NCTCOG Status Report:Multi-Year Network CodingAnd Integrated Databases

Ken Cervenka, P.E., AICPNorth Central Texas Council Of Governments

For

AMPO Travel Model Work Group MeetingSalt Lake City, Utah

October 24, 2006

Step 1: Initial Re-Alignment

Re-Shape Existing Year-Specific Travel Model Roadway Networks So They 1) Overlay Reasonably Well With Each Other And 2) Follow Ground Truth

Status: Done—The Independent Layers Are Currently Being Used For All TransCAD-Based Travel Model Roadway And Transit Coding But: Ramp Access/Egress Points Are Only Partially Rectified To Ground Truth

TransCAD Routines Are Used To Copy New Links Added In One Layer And Paste To Other Layers

Step 2: Create A Fully-Rectified All-Streets Base Year Roadway Network

Convert The “All Streets” ArcGIS Layer Maintained By NCTCOG’s Research & Information Services Department To A “Network Compatible” TransCAD Roadway Layer Proper “Navigation Quality” Network Topologies Maintained Four-Node Intersections Collapsed To A Single Node

Status: Done For 2003, But Needs To Be Updated To A More Current Year

Step 3: Create Multi-Year Roadway Network Coding Tool

Contract With Caliper (Along With SCAG And Clark County RTC) To Develop A “True Master Network” Environment In TransCAD 5.0 Concept: Instead Of One Layer Containing Links With Various Year- Specific Attributes, There Is One Layer Indexed To Year-Specific Attributes

Terminology of Scenarios, Projects, And Activities Allows For One Master Network To Represent Many Baseline Networks And Alternative Scenarios Within Each Baseline

Base Year Network With No Interchange

2030 Model Year With New Interchange

Status Of Multi-Year Roadway Network Coding Tool

Caliper’s Beta Version Is Being Tested By NCTCOG But Caliper Staff Already Using For Future-Year Coding For SCAG

Working With Caliper On Creation Of More “User Friendly” Features

Still Figuring Out How To Most Effectively Perform Transit Coding In A Multi-Year Environment

Step 4: Merge Existing Travel Model Networks Into One Master Network

Status: Not Yet Started More Cleanups Of Our Existing Independent Networks Is Needed

More Beta Testing Of TransCAD’s Master Network Coding Tool To Ensure Stability For Use In A Production-Line Applications Environment

Future Steps

Integration With Other Geodatabase Layers (e.g, TIP Projects And Detailed Intersection Databases)

Establish Procedure For Exporting And Merging Selected Links From The All-Streets Master Network To A Year-Specific Travel Model Network Example: A 1.0 Mile Section Of Road May Have 20 Separate Links That Get Merged Into Just Two Travel Model Links

Display Of Multi-Year Information On The Web